Gay boxer Orlando Cruz gains points victory two weeks after 'coming out'
Puerto Rican admits he has felt pressure since coming out two weeks ago, but says he just wants respect
These last two weeks have weighed heavily on Orlando Cruz.
But as soon as he walked out to a cheering crowd displaying flags of his native Puerto Rico, boxing's first openly gay fighter could finally breathe and do what he came to do, slugging his way to a victory by unanimous decision over Jorge Pazos.
"That was my moment, my opportunity, my event," Cruz said after the bout, with his mother Dominga Torres-Rivera seated beside him. "And I won."
Cruz was touched by the support on display at the Kissimmee Civic Centre outside Orlando, the latest in a continual outpouring since his announcement two weeks ago that made him the first male boxer to come out as gay while still professionally active.
"I was very happy that they respect me. That's what I want — them to see me as a boxer, as an athlete and as a man in every sense of the word."
Cruz, the WBO's fourth-ranked featherweight, has garnered plenty of attention and interview requests, as well as support from people such as former Olympic teammate Miguel Cotto and singer Ricky Martin.
"With all that's been going through my life the last two weeks, I have no excuses," Cruz said. "It did affect me, going here, going there. It did affect me."